I know these things are getting old, i am so ready for the season to start. Hell i'm even excited for pre season which i'm usually not. Amazing how we go from not near the best a few weeks ago to the class of the AFC haha.

i certainly believe it. when we didnt have a running game matt schaub lead the league in passing with only andre and daniels as real threats. we get a running game and arian foster is #1 in the league. we've now found balance and are top 10 across the board in what's called a down year - with only andre as a real receiving threat. we sent 3 offensive linemen to the probowl (yeah i dont see how wade got in), and teams are jumping all over our castoffs. all while focusing most of the resources on defense.

wade phillips i dont think there's much to say, and our assistant coaches are getting a ton of praise.

marciano is the only weak link.

as for where to rank them, it's gotta be at the top. because i believe we have great coaching, and we hit big time filling needs this offseason without losing anything, i think we went from a top 4 afc team to probably the head of the pack.

I'm not putting the Texans ahead of a team they have yet to beat recently. Paper doesn't win anything so going by that I find pointless. So until we beat the Patriots (which we are capable of I feel) they are the better team. Just like I'm not with the rest of the sports world putting the Broncos ahead of the Texans since they lost in their own stadium in a game they never really had control.

So I guess if I had to rank them I would have them at 2nd in the AFC at this point. In truth, all the top AFC teams are interchangable with each other. All comes down to matchups so any of the four could get there. Couple more teams rising but until you see it, it's just paper. Part of the reason I could care less about the receiving corps the Patriots have. Brady is still the QB and he has worked with no-name receivers/running backs before. Nothing new there.

The top 4 teams are NE, Denver, Houston and Baltimore in whatever order tickles your fancy.

What's curious to me is that I saw two different national media guys ranking the Texans 6th and 7th in the AFC recently behind the likes of Cincinnati and Indianapolis. You can reasonably put the Texans behind Denver, NE and Baltimore, but when you start putting them behind Indianapolis and Cincinnati you are just begging for clicks.

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"You always hear about how tough they are and all that stuff," Orton said. "I don't think they are tough. I think they are cheap..."

Top teams (clearly the class of the AFC):
Baltimore
Denver
Houston
New England
note: I alphabetized the list so nothing is implied by the order.

So I agree - on paper - we're among the best

BUT...
all of the top tier teams have questions.

Baltimore - will their defense be the same after losing Sugar Ray and Ed Reed? Can Flacco repeat the magic (luck?) he had during last year's SB run?
Denver - Lost key pieces to F/A and injury. Plus there's the "Why does Peyton seem to fade in the playoffs factor? Yeah, he'll get you there but then what?
Houston - Can Schaub step up big in primetime? How will the 2013 version of Wade's D perform?
New England - Brady has taken a no-name group of receivers to the playoffs before; can he do it again?

I think we're probably #2 if I had to rank the top teams. Of the teams on the list, we're the only one w/o a QB with SB experience. That's big.

They have also taken a significant step backwards in terms of personnel .... You don't lose all those receivers and expect to have the same potent offense.

Defensively they aren't all that either , their offense , particularly Brady has covered up their weaknesses there over the past decade or so.

That team goes as Brady goes .... and I don't expect the same Brady we've come to expect because he has .... a buncha nobody's to throw to.

I don't disagree at all. Right now they are in our heads though. We were probably more talented during the other 2 beat downs as well. As long as Brady has all day to throw, he'll eventually find someone. Doesn't matter is Curly, Larry, and Moe are their WR/TEs. Belichick is great at putting guys in position to do what they do best.